Editorial: Welcome to Concordia University

OpinionsEditorialThe Link — Published September 8, 2026 3 minutes

You’ve taken the metro downtown to tour your classrooms at the Hall Building or JMSB, or traversed the maze-like hallways of the Science Complex. You may have even had the chance to lie down in the grass on Loyola campus, or attend your first event at Reggie’s with the new friends you’ve made—the ones you swear you’ll remember forever.

This is the Concordia University that greets every student who walks onto campus for the very first time. It should be. But in the coming weeks and months, as the novel becomes your mundane routine, you will get to know a different Concordia. 

This Concordia is not sprawled across promotional pamphlets or organized by an eager Frosh leader. It manifests in emptier classrooms and even emptier offices. All too quickly, promises of a full and vibrant university experience begin to feel as though every one was said in vain.

This is the Concordia that becomes as familiar as your own two hands. The Concordia that rears its head in carefully worded statements to avoid accountability and shift blame. It compromises the university experience you were led to expect and apologizes with a half-thought-out, auto-generated email. 

The Link team is here to tell you what lies behind each vivid poster of smiling stock-photo students.

Over the past year, Concordia has undergone tremendous changes. The Quebec government’s passage of Bill 9 has left the existence of campus prayer rooms uncertain. The province’s enforcement of tuition hikes for out-of-province students created uncertainty for the university’s enrolment. When an $84 million deficit loomed, the administration decided that two increases to student fee levies and the elimination of 63 limited-term appointments (amounting to around $1 million in savings) were the keys to pulling Concordia out of its rut. A university-wide hiring freeze remained in effect, and university President Graham Carr stated that layoffs were “expected to be necessary,” all while his salary grew 5.14 per cent to an astonishing $547,623. 

Concerns over the censorship of support for Palestine led to a systemic boycott of the university’s Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery. Student protestors continued Concordia’s storied history of campus activism, leading widespread demonstrations amid heavy opposition. When a CSU staffer did her job in assisting the coordination of mobilization efforts on campus during student-led pro-Palestine strikes, the university barred her from campus indefinitely. In the face of calls to action, Concordia remained silent, except to criticize the actions of protestors assaulted and restrained by security forces. 

We are not surprised if you have never heard these stories. Nevertheless, they, and hundreds of others, unfold every day on campus. They deserve recognition and consideration, and cannot receive it without the dedicated work of campus media.

This is where The Link comes in.

Since 1980, The Link has published work covering the Concordia and Montreal communities, as well as national and international stories of interest to said communities. We pride ourselves on our work as an advocacy publication, bringing to life stories that are often avoided or silenced by legacy media. With hundreds of articles published every year, we outline the world you occupy every day on campus.
In this issue, you will find stories from every corner of Concordia. Some will align with the narrative the administration runs. Many will challenge it. The one thing we know for certain is that each will teach you something about the university you now call home.

We by no means claim to be a final authority or all-knowing entity. However, we recognize that Concordia—and Montreal by extension—isn't perfect. Our mission is to hold the institutions that govern your university experience accountable while delivering the highest-quality work to the student body, which, more often than not, remains in the dark.

The Link is just as much a tool as it is a publication. We welcome input from everywhere in the name of decoding the complex messages from decision-makers and analyzing every aspect of university life. If you have a story, we want to help you tell it.

So, welcome to Concordia. We’ve been waiting for you. 

This article originally appeared in Volume 47, Issue 1, published September 8, 2026.